Pile pulling tongs



June 4, 1963 D. JANOFF PILE PULLING TONGS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 12, 1960 5 W m N R E 0 VM W N. I A m M 0 BY H IL T H Q June 4, 1963 D. JANOFF PILE PULLING TONGS INVENTOR DAN/EL L. dA/VOF'F 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 12, 1960 Awa i B Ms ATTORNEYS June 4, 1963 D. JANOFF 3,092,414

FILE PULLING TONGS Filed Dec. 12, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 I N VENTOR kn ATTORNEY-S United States 3,092,414 PILE PULLING TONGS Daniel L. Janoif, Mount Lebanon Township, Allegheny County, Pa., assignor to Heppenstall Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Dec. 12, 1960, Ser. No. 75,154 8 Claims. (Cl. 294-110) This invention relates to pile pulling tongs for the removal of steel sheet or wooden piles or piling. More particularly, this invention relates to such tongs having automatically engageable, self-adjusting and self-retaining mechanism.

Embodiments of this invention may be readily made of rugged construction with relatively few parts so arranged that the jaws thereof preferably are held in open pile-receiving position ready for use and automatically or remotely released for the pulling of piling by or upon contact between the tongs and the piling to be pulled, which often is in a relatively inaccessible location. Further, tongs of this invention upon engagement with piling to be pulled or otherwise handled adjust themselves to the thickness or size of that piling and may grip it with added force upon lifting of the tongs body. Further, embodiments of this invention preferably are made with latching mechanism to hold open the tongs jaws upon or after disengagement from a previously engaged piling, ready to receive and automatically engage by release of such mechanism a further piling to be pulled or otherwise moved or handled. Embodiments of this invention, still further, may be utilized with steady or recurrent lift or pull exerting devices or with hammering equipment. Mechanism and operation of practices of this invention are relatively simple, trouble-free and fast-acting.

Other objects, features and advantages ofthis invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, which are illustrative only, in which FIGURE 1 is a view in front elevation of one embodiment of this invention in latched-open condition;

FIGURE 2 is a view in side elevation of the embodiment shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view in section taken along line III-III of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a view taken along line IVlV of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a view of the embodiment shown in FIGURE 1 with the latch mechanism disengaged by contact between the tongs and a piling to be pulled thereby;

FIGURE 6 is a view of the tongs shown in FIGURE 5, in section generally indicated by the line VI-VI of FIGURE 2, with the tongs in gripping engagement with such piling for the pulling of the latter;

FIGURE 7 is a view of another tongs embodiment with fully automatic latch mechanism thereon in latched-open position ready to receive a new pile;

FIGURE 8 is a view of a further embodiment with fluid-operated cylinder mechanism thereon in open pilereceiving position;

FIGURE 9 is a cross sectional view through the jaws of another tongs embodiment of this invention suitable for preliminary and gripping engagement with and disengagement from wooden piles; and

FIGURE 10 is a schematic plan view illustrating a tandem use of tongs of this invention in the pulling of Z-shaped steel sheet piling.

Referring to FIGURES 1 to 6, inclusive, of the drawings, one embodiment 10 of a pile pulling tongs of this invention is therein illustrated. Tongs 10 comprises a body or frame 11 which may be cast or built-up of structural steel members. As shown it is of generally horse- -tongs. 20 form an arch 22 adapted to be preliminarily engaged 3,692,414 Patented June 4, 1963 shoe shape with a polygonal recess 12 extending from front to back thereof and having an open end at the bottom 13 of frame 11. Recess 12 is provided with downwardly converging or tapered right and left hand opposed sides 14 each with a finished surface for a pair of opposed jaws 15 respectively adapted to slide along said sides. Frame 11 is providedjw-ith a head pin 16 extending therethrough for pivotal connection to the lower ends of respectively spaced connectors 17, the upper ends of which may be engaged by a crane hook, or a winch hook or shackle, or a pile extractor which in turn may be in the form of a steam or hydraulic extractor cylinder for steady pulling, or a pneumatic or steam hammer for impact blows transmitted through the connectors 17 and tongs 10 to a pile or piling 18 after it has been gripped by tongs 10 for pulling from the position in which such piling 18 is set, or for otherwise moving or handling such piling through the intermediacy of tongs 10.

laws 15 have grips 19 secured to the respective inner faces thereof, the opposed inner surfaces of the grips 19 being serrated in the illustrated embodiment for firm non- .slip engagement with any piling 18, it being realized that tongs 10 engages and handles different piles successively in the course of its work. A bent member 20 integral with the upper end of each jaw 15 forms a projection 21 which overlaps the center line or median plane equidistant from the sides of device 10 and recess 12. The projections 21 of the bent members 20 are longitudinally offset, as shown in FIGURE 4, so that said projections are side-by-side proceeding from front to back of the The respective undersides of the bent members or contacted by a new pile to be handled, as illustrated in FIGURE 5, after that pile enters the zone or gap between the jaws 15 and grips 19. That zone is preferably held open as illustrated in FIGURE 1 when tongs 10 is in pile-receiving condition, even though a pile would push its way upwardly between the jaws if the latch should be disengaged when the tongs is placed on top of a new pile.

Each jaw 15 is provided with a pivot pin 23 extending therethrough to pivotally engage the lower end of a respective jaw link 24. Such links 24 are provided close to the front and back of the vertical faces of frame 11 and the links are bent to permit of their pivotal connection to the respective jaws and to avoid interference with one another. Each pair of links 24 has a common pivot connection at the top thereof in the form of a link pin 26, respectively. Thus, each pair of links at the front and back of frame 11 converges upwardly, the included angle varying in accordance upon the elevation of the jaws 15 relative to the sides 14. The outer sides of the jaws 15 are provided with lateral flanges 27 which are retained and guided by edges 28 of angle retainers 29 secured to frame 11. Hence, the jaws 15 when free to move are slidable downwardly along the sides 14 but cannot move away therefrom. Since the sides 14 converge downwardly, as the jaws 15 move toward bottom 13 of tongs 10, the width of the gap or zone between the serrations of the respective grips 19 correspondingly narrows, and vice versa.

A lever 31} of the first class is pivoted about a fulcrum pin 31 and is provided with transversely spaced rigidly connected arms 3-2. The inner ends of arms 32 have slots 33 through which the link pins 26 pass and pivotally connect, with a suitable lost motion connection, the respective links 24 to said inner end of lever 30. The outer end of lever 30 is provided with a bar 34 to which a lanyard 35 may be tied. Further, a swingable hook latch 36 is pivotally connected to one of the arms 32 to cooperate with a pin keeper 37 fixed to frame 11, when the occasion arises.

In operation, if the tongs is in a ready position as illustrated in FIGURE 1 connected to a lift device by connectors 17, such tongs 1t may then be set down by said lift device upon a pile 18 as illustrated in FIGURE 1 and lowered until the pile engages arch 22 as shown in FIGURE 5 raising jaws 15 enough to tilt lever 3i clockwise sufliciently to permit latch member 36 to swing free, out of engagement with keeper member 37. Thereupon, as tongs is raised by the lifting device, the weight of the jaws 1'5 inclusive of grips 19 will cause the jaws to slide downwardly relative to frame 11, rotating lever 30 in the opposite direction as illustrated in FIGURE 6 and bringing the serrated teeth of the grips 19 into self-retaining gripping engagement with the top of pile 18, irrespective of the thickness of that pile within the size capacity of the tongs Iii. Such operation therefore provides an automatic release of the latching mechanism 3'63'7 upon the occurrence of the preliminary engagement between arch 22 and the top of pile 18 followed by gripping engagement between tongs and pile with automatic self-adjustment of the tongs to the thickness of the pile. This is of special importance in the pulling or handling of piles or piling in awkward or relatively remote places reachable by the lifting equipment yet not readily reachable by any person attending the equipment. Also, the jaws may be opened and/ or the latch mechanism of embodiment it) may be released to free the jaws for descent and gripping engagement with a pile by pulling down upon the lanyard 35, if and when such action should be so desired. The'lanyard serves a further purpose in that it may be used to raise the inner end of lever 30 relative to frame 11 and thereby open the jaws 15 after the pulled pile 18 ha been deposited, stacked or otherwise placed by the tongs when it is desired to disengage tongs 10 therefrom; or such release of the gripping engagement may be performed by relative movement of the pile 13 to be disengaged toward the head of tongs 10' raising the jaws relative to the frame until the latch and keeper can be manually reengaged to hold the jaws open, freeing the pile and permitting the ready separation of the two. In the use herein of the terms vertical, downwardly, bottom and raising and other expressions of direction, it will be understood that such terms are relative only inasmuch as the tongs may be used in positions other than the vertical position used for purposes of illustration. 7

FIGURE 7 schematically illustrates another embodiment of this invention using an automatically engaging and disengaging latch mechanism which may be made in accordance with the disclosure of US. Patent No. 1,839,- 389. Parts in the embodiment of FIGURE 7 corresponding generally in construction and functioning to those described in the earlier embodiment are provided with the same reference numerals with the addition of a prime accent thereto, respectively. In such a latch mechanism, an inverted T-shaped latch bolt 50 cooperates in alternate latched and unlatched cycles with an elongated slot 51 in a keeper member 52 fixed to frame 11'. When the bolt head is in the position shown in FIGURE 7, the

tongs 10 is latched open with the jaws 15- raised and in pile-receiving condition. Hence, any movement of frame 11' does not cause any relative movement of the latchedopen jaws; Conversely, when the head of bolt 50 is aligned with slot 51, a lifting of frame 11 causes the counterclockwise rotation of lever 30 as viewed in FIG- URE 7 due to the relative downward movement of jaws 15 relative to the frame as the jaw gap narrows and the jaws move into gripping engagement with a pile 18 therebetween.

Bolt 50 is secured to a strike 53 which extends up into a barrel 54 having angularly offset opposed cam surfaces therein, so that upon pile 18 engaging arch 22' and raising jaws 15' relative to frame 11', strike 5-3 will hit the keeper 52 because of the turning of lever 30' causing the cam mechanism inside barrel 54 to move the head of bolt 50 toward alignment with slot 51. Then as the jaws 15 move toward gripping position with pile 18 caused by a subsequent lifting of frame 11', the head of bolt 50 will complete its aligning turn and pass out from between the sides of slot 51, unlatching the tongs 10" and allowing such gripping to be completed by freeing the lever 30' for counterclockwise movement. The continued lifting of tongs 10', as in the case of tongs 10, will intensify the gripping force exerted by the jaws 15 upon the piling 18' to free from its set or anchored position preparatory to moving it to another place for deposit or other handling. The setting down of the pulled piling 18 will cause the re-engagement of the latch mechanism through a reverse latching action between the latch strike 53 and keeper 52 after the head of bolt 50 reenter-s slot 51, thus preparing tongs 10' for latched-open movement to the next pile to be gripped and pulled or otherwise handled by the tongs 10'.

In the still further schematically shown embodiment of FIGURE 8, the tongs construction is similar to that shown in the first and second embodiments and parts corresponding generally in structure and functioning are provided with the sarne reference numerals with the addition thereto of a double prime accent, respectively. In the FIGURE 8 embodiment, the latching and unlatching mechanism, as such, is replaced by a fluid operated cylinder 60 having a spool-type control valve 61 which may be either proximately or remotely connected thereto. Cylinder 66 is provided with a double-acting piston 62 which operates a piston rod 63 pivotally connected to the outer end of lever 30". Control impulses for valve 61 are respectively provided through the conduits 61a and 61b while the force liquid, preferably hydraulic,

is supplied through the force conduits 64 and 65 which respectively communicate with the respective ends of the cylinder on each side of the piston 62 through conduits 66 and 67. Preferably, also, the valve 61 is of the type in which the movable element therein can be shifted to a position which can releasably lock piston 62 when piston rod 63 is fully retracted as shown to hold the jaws 15" open in pile-receiving position. Further, rod 63 can be extended under the force of cylinder 60 to intensify the gripping engagement after jaws 15" have moved into gripping engagement with a pile 18" to be gripped and handled by tongs 10', as may be desired. Throughout, the movement of lever 30" is controlled by the action of cylinder 60 through the use of control valve 61, whilethe operation and functioningof tongs 10" is otherwise similar to the operation and functioning of tongs 10.

FIGURE 9 illustrates in schematic plan a standard piling 18d of wood and the use of jaws 15d having integral or separately attached gripping surfaces 19d and concave in plan to provide appropriate and better seating against such wood piling. Moreover, the space between the jaws 15d is arranged to provide the greater gap both when the tongs are open and when closed as re quircd for the handling of such wooden, instead of metal, piling. Jaws 15d may he incorporated in and operated by any of the tongs embodiments hereinabove described.

FIGURE 10 schematically illustrates a wall 70 of Z- shaped steel sheet piling with interlocking joints and a pair of tongs, such as tongs 10, in gripping engagement with respective flanges of a section of that piling wall. The tongs are coacting in tandem to pull the pile section and is illustrative of a possible conjoint use, out of many, of more than one tongs device of this invention in pulling, or otherwise handling, such piling. Various loads other than'piles may be handled by devices of this invention. Various changes may be made in details of the illustrated embodiments and other embodiments of this invention may be provided, without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Pile pulling tongs comprising, in combination, an inverted generally U-shaped frame having a fixed size downwardly extending recess opening through the bottom thereof, said recess having downwardly tapering sides, respective right and left hand opposed jaws slidable along said sides respectively, right and left hand opposed grips secured to the inner sides of said jaws to define a pile receiving gap therebetween, said jaws having laterally extending flanges adjacent said sides respectively, angle retainers secured to said frame to overlap said flanges to provide guides for the movementtof said jaws, a bent projection extending from the upper portion of each of said respective jaws into longitudinally overlapping relation above said gap, upwardly converging links of equal length pivotally connected together at their upper ends and respectively pivotally connected to said jaws at their lower ends, a transversely extending lever of the first class pivoted on said frame having an inner portion pivotally connected to the upper ends of said links operative only to raise and hold said jaws open, latch and keeper members respectively connected to the outer portion of said lever and to said frame, said members when engaged holding said jaws and grips immovable relative to said frame and said gap in open pile-receiving position, said jaws and grips providing self-adjusting gravity pile engagement when said members are disengaged.

2. Piling pulling tongs as set forth in claim 1, in which said latch and keeper members respectively comprise a swingable hook-shaped latch and a pin keeper, said latch and keeper being automatically placed in disengageable position upon lifting of said projections relative to said frame.

3. Pile pulling tongs as set forth in claim 1, in which said latch and keeper members comprise an automatic alternately latching and unlatching mechanism.

4. Pile pulling tongs comprising, in combination, a frame having a fixed size downwardly extending recess opening through the bottom thereof, said frame adapted to be connected to means for lifting said tongs without change in the overall height thereof or of said frame, said recess having downwardly converging sides, respective right and left hand opposed jaws slidable only along said sides respectively, means for guiding the sliding movement of said jaws, a lever pivotally connected to said frame, upwardly converging links pivotally connected together at their upper ends to said lever and respectively pivotally connected to said jaws at their lower ends, holding means operatively connected to said lever to hold said jaws in open pile-receiving position, said lever being independent of said means for lifting said tongs, and means for releasing said holding means.

5. Pile pulling tongs for work as set forth in claim 4, comprising, projecting means extending from the upper portion of said respective jaws into projecting relation 5 above the space between said jaws, said means for releasing are automatically actuated to release upon upward movement of said projecting means by said work relative to said frame within said recess, and said jaws descend by gravity to engage said work for a pile: pulling operation.

6. Pile pulling tongs as set forth in claim 4, in which said last-named means comprises a fluidaoperated cylinder mechanism operable remotely or proximately.

7. Pile pulling tongs comprising, in combination, a frame of generally inverted U-shape defining a recess with opposed inner sides, said sides being convergent in a downward direction, said frame adapted to be connected to means for lifting said tongs without change in the over all height thereof or of said frame, respective spaced right and left hand opposed jaws slidable along said sides respectively in said recess, respective means connected to said jaws and forming an arch across the upper portion of said recess above the space between said jaws, a lever pivotally connected to said frame and said jaws independent of said means for lifting said tongs, means connecting said lever and jaws respectively, means for optionally holding said lever in -a position with said jaws raised to maintain the space between said jaws in open pile-receiving condition, said last-mentioned means being operatively connected to said first-named means to release said lever when said arch is contacted by a pile entering said space to free said jaws to slide down by gravity and enter into self-adjusting gripping engagement with said pile.

8. Pile pulling tongs comprising, in combination, a frame of generally inverted U-shape defining a recess with opposed inner sides, said sides being convergent in a downward direction, respective spaced right and left hand opposed jaws slidable along said sides respectively in said recess, respective means connected to said jaws and extending across the upper portion of said recess above the space between said jaws, means pivotally connecting said frame and jaws respectively, means independent of lifting means for said tongs for optionally holding said jaws in raised position to maintain the space between said jaws in open pile-receiving condition, said independent means being operatively connected to said first-named means to release said jaws when said firstnamed means are contacted by a pile entering said space to free said jaws to slide down and enter into self-adjusting gripping engagement with said pile without change in the over all height of said tongs or of said frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,510,176 Knight Sept. 30', 1924 1,966,240 Erdahl July 10, 1934 2,106,373 Garriott Jan. 25, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 739,720 Great Britain Nov. 2, 1955 

4. PILE PULLING TONGS COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A FRAME HAVING A FIXED SIZE DOWNWARDLY EXTENDING RECESS OPENING THROUGH THE BOTTOM THEREOF, SAID FRAME ADAPTED TO BE CONNECTED TO MEANS FOR LIFTING SAID TONGS WITHOUT CHANGE IN THE OVERALL HEIGHT THEREOF OR OF SAID FRAME, SAID RECESS HAVING DOWNWARDLY CONVERGING SIDES, RESPECTIVE RIGHT AND LEFT HAND OPPOSED JAWS SLIDABLE ONLY ALONG SAID SIDES RESPECTIVELY, MEANS FOR GUIDING THE SLIDING MOVEMENT OF SAID JAWS, A LEVER PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID FRAME, UPWARDLY CONVERGING LINKS PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TOGETHER AT THEIR UPPER ENDS TO SAID LEVER AND RESPECTIVELY PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID JAWS AT THEIR LOWER ENDS, HOLDING MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID LEVER TO HOLD SAID JAWS IN OPEN PILE-RECEIVING POSITION, SAID LEVER BEING INDEPENDENT OF SAID MEANS FOR LIFTING SAID TONGS, AND MEANS FOR RELEASING SAID HOLDING MEANS. 